Binion preliminary hearing costs surpass $45,000

The preliminary hearing to determine whether Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish will stand trial for murder in the death of Las Vegas gaming figure Ted Binion has cost the county about $45,000 -- a good percentage of that in overtime.

The hearing, now in its 11th day, has begun daily after Justice of the Peace Jennifer Togliatti has finished her regular daily court calendar. It continues until 7 p.m. most nights.

For a court staff that usually gets off at 3:30 p.m., that's adding 3 1/2 hours of overtime a day. A session on Saturday added another $4,462 to the tab.

The hours are even longer for the salaried Togliatti, who begins her workday at 7 a.m.

While the overtime pay may be welcome, the long hours are wearing down the court staff as the hearing winds up its second week, Justice Court Administrator Steven Morris said.

"They are getting tired," he said. "If it rolls much into the third week, we will have to get them some relief."

By Thursday afternoon Togliatti had not released a schedule for next week, but Morris said the court was prepared for the hearing to extend at least partly into the week.

Even if the hearing doesn't finish until the end of next week, its cost pales in comparison to what the state of Nevada stands to gain from Ted Binion's estate.

Assuming the $30 million estate pays the top federal estate tax rate of 55 percent, the state could get up to $1.6 million. The value of the $4 million silver stash found buried in Pahrump by itself could bring as much as $180,000.

Of course, none of that money would help pay the county's cost of prosecuting Murphy and Tabish. Not only does the county bear the entire cost of Justice Court, but the state earmarks its share of the estate tax for higher education and public schools.

District Court Administrator Chuck Short said that if the murder case gets to District Court for trial, the basic cost likely would be between $2,500 and $4,000 a day.

"To prosecute a death penalty case doesn't come cheap," he said. "It's the most expensive type of case we have. It almost always doubles the costs."

Short predicted the Binion murder trial, if it goes three months or more, would be the most expensive criminal trial in the court's history.

The cost to taxpayers could escalate if the defendants can't afford private lawyers for the protracted legal battle and lawyers have to be appointed to represent them.

Additional security needs also are at issue, Short said.

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